Fastening device



Feb. 22, 1938. L LANDGRAF 2,109,254

FASTENING DEVICE Fild Aug. 27, 1936 Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFF-ICE 6 Claims.

My invention relates in general to means for fastening a metal member onto a piece of cloth or joining a metal member and piece of cloth tgether without supplementarymaterial such as f threads, eyelets or the like, and more in particular to a metal clip for fastening onto an inked ribbon or tape to mount the ribbon in oice appliances such as addressing machines-andthe like.V

Although it has been common practice to put metal clips, tips, and like members, onto cloth tape and ribbons, it has been found difficult to retain the tape or ribbon with the metal, except by a laborious and expensive assembly which often necessitated a relatively expensive metal member. This assembly has in the past been accomplished by the use of a metal clip or buckle-like member with a transverse slot through which the ribbon is passed, and the ribbon then usually sewed or eyeletted through a folded over end portion to retain the same on the clip. This type of fastening permits the ribbon to slide on the metal member in the slot and thus become wrinkled or out of place. It also promotes wearon the ribbon to often cut through the same. Furthermore, with the ribbon being passed through the slot in the clip, the width of the ribbon must conform to the Width of the slot. If the ribbon is wider than the slot it is wrinkled up in a manner to often interfere with the opera-tions ofv the machine.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved fastening device for securing a metal memberand a cloth ribbon or tape together.

Another object is to provide an improvedv metal cli-p which may -be very quickly and securely applied to a piece of cloth.

A further object is to provide a punched out, one-piece metal clip which is simple, yet extremely sturdy.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a clip or other metal member for fastening onto a piece of cloth without the use of any other fastening material, and in such a manner that the cloth is very rmly and securely retained Fig. 2 is aside View of the structure of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3,-.3 of Fig. l, but still further enlarged.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front view of the clip itself, illustrating particularly the position of the fastening means when originally stamped out, and before being applied to the cloth.

In practicing the invention, the clip lis stamped out to provide a one-piece metal member having a, mounting body. portion and a plurality of clamping fingers extending from one side, with alternate ngersoriginal'ly inclined away fromthe body portion tov permit the insertion. of. a piece of' cloth therebetween, preferably at the edge of the cloth or at an edge provided .by a fold therein. After insertion of the cloth, the fingers are pressed together by means of a small hand press` or the. like, to frictionally engage the cloth, and with teeth-like projections or burrs at the end of' the fingers to actually bite into the cloth. In the pressing operation the clip. as. a whole is preferably formed to a slight curve to follow the normal curvature of a roller, should such ribbon and clip pass arounda roller in the normal operation, of a machine for which the assembly is designed.

Referring now to the drawing, thel clips III are stamped'- out from a strip of sheet metal or the like by. a continuous die in a single stamping opere ation, to provide a body or mounting portion II. For purposes of illustration, a body'portion is shown with a bent ear t2' at eachV end of a flange I3 at the. top of the clip. Slots I4 are cut out at each end of the.k body portion below the ears to 't into a corresponding portion of an officemachine employing an inking ribbon therein, Vto which the clip is secured. It is understood, however, that the body portion may be varied in form, depending upon the use to whichv the clipis put.

Although, as stated above, metal clips have been secured to the ends of cloth ribbons and tapes in the-past, the securing operation has often been laborious and expensive, `and the clip itself-of such a construction that it would not remain securely fastened to the ribbon for any length of time. This difficulty is overcome in thepresent invention by a plurality of substantially T-shaped fingers I6 extending from one side of the body portion II of the clip. These ngers are formed in the stamping operation so asl to incline alternately to one sidey and then to the other, as shown in Fig. 4, with a small portion of metal removed from. the finger at I1 so as to providev outwardly extending ears I81at the end or head` of eachnger, Except for being integral with the body portion,

the fingers are each independent of one another. The die is so designed that in the stamping the fingers are stamped out and separated in a shearing action so that projections I9 extend inwardly from each ear I8 like a sharp burr or tooth. These projections extend substantially over the outer edge of each of the ears I8 of the T-shaped fingers and substantially to the tip thereof. An enlarged or widened finger 20 is provided midway between the ends. This provides added rigidity for the clip at the middle, and provides a larger metal bearing surface at that portion.

In assembling a ribbon 2| and the clip I0 together, the ribbon is folded over at its end to provide additional strength, and this folded portion is inserted between the formed-apart fingers I6 as shown in Fig. 4. This may be accomplished by the use of a thin shim-like tool inserted within the ribbonas the fold is made thereover, and then pressed into the open teeth to carry the cloth up to the portion 22 of the clip to provide the greatest bearing surface for the fingers on the ribbon. The shim-like tool is then removed and the clip and ribbon fastened together by pressing the fingers into the cloth by means of a small clinching machine which may be supplied with the clips.

This clinching machine presses the fingers into the position shown in Fig. 3 to frictionally and firmly engage the cloth and in addition curve the entire clip slightly if desired,` as shown in Fig. 2, to more closely conform to the circumference of a roller on any machine in which the ribbon is used. In the clinching operation the sharp projections or burred edges I9 of the ears I8 on the head of each finger I6 are pressed into the cloth in such a way that they ordinarily cut through the same at that point, to additionally prevent the Withdrawal of the ribbon from the clip without any possibility of the ribbon tearing from that point, for the remainder of the cloth between the fingers or adjacent thereto is not cut at all. With the fingers alternately spaced and formed at their outer ends as described, they may be pressed down to the place where the adjacent projections I9 lie substantially in engagement and thefingers as afwhole are relatively no thicker in cross section (Fig. 3) across the entire clip than the original metal itself from which the clip is stamped. In this condition, the clip will more readily pass through the operating and guiding mechanism of a machine to provide a more satisfactory and efficient operation thereof.

'I'he particular fastening means is also important because in the use of a metal clip of any form on the end of the ribbon to mount the same in an office machine, it is desirable to have the clip as -short as possible in.- the dimension away from the ribbon so that it will readily pass around a roller or circular guide. With the grippingmeans provided, the fingers may be relatively short, yet secure lthe cloth inr av substantially permanent grip. Furthermore, to facilitate movement of the ribbon over rollers, it is desirable-that there be no metal tail, or overlapping portion extending onto the ribbon beyond the point at which the metal grips the cloth. In the present invention the fingers I 6 and projections I9 thereon engage the cloth right up toy the end of the metal and thereis no overlapping portion.

The fastening device of my invention hasI a further advantage over such devices of the prior art and particularly the buckle-like members with a transverse slot through which the ribbon is inserted, in that it prevents any slidingv on the clip and thus keeps the ribbon in proper alinement, as well as preventing wear and wrinkling with such sliding. This difiiculty is particularly apparent in a wide clip where the slot may be as much as one inch in width. The clip of my invention may be stamped out in various widths without very much added expense in tooling, and the desired width of ribbon then maintained in accurate alinement when mounted by means of the clip in a machine.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described in its preferred embodiment, it is understood that it is not limited thereby, but is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A metal clip for securing to a piece of cloth,

including a body portion, and cloth securing means comprising a plurality of T-shaped fingers each having a head and a body portion extending from the body portion of the clip, said fingers formed to receive the cloth therebetween, and having projections on the outer ends for engaging the cloth and cooperating to retain said cloth secured to the clip. 2. An article of manufacture for sewing to a piece of cloth, including a body portion and a plurality of fingers extending from one side thereof all of a single thickness of metal, with adjacent fingers having corresponding piercing projections at the side near the ends thereof to pierce the cloth and cooperate to retain the same, and corresponding recesses on adjacent fingers intermediate the ends of the fingers and the body portion of the article to non-piercingly receive the ribbon therein. y

v3. A metal tipfor a cloth'ribbon, said tip having cloth sewing means integral therewith comprising a plurality of forwardly extending fingers originally alternately bent to one side and then to the other away from the plane of the body portion to receive cloth therebetween, and pressed to substantially a single thickness in cloth se.- curing position, with cloth piercing means on the side ends of said fingers, and with said fingers shaped in a`manner intermediate the ends thereof and the body portion of the clip to receive the cloth ribbon between two adjacent fingers at said intermediate portion without cutting or piercing the same.

4. A clip for mounting an inking ribbon in an office machine comprising a one-piece metal member, having a substantially rectangular body portion with a relatively narrow iiange on one side with notches at each end of the body portion below the fiange to provide outwardly extending ears on said fiange for mounting said clip in the office machine, and ribbon engaging means on the otherk side of said body portion including a plurality of separated fingers each having a T-shaped end portion with ribbon piercing projections at the side ends thereof, with said fingers acting to secure said ribbon in said clip.

- 5. In combination a metallic clip, and cloth secured in said clip, said clip comprising a body portion, and a. plurality of separated forward extensions from said body portion, with each extension having an ear at one sidev of the en'd thereof cooperating with a similar ear on an adjacent extension to piercingly engage the cloth at that point, with said extensions shaped in a manner to provide corresponding recesses in adjacent extensions to form an opening and with said opening intermediate the cooperating ears and body portion of the clip to non-piercingly receive the cloth therein.

bon to al1 lie in substantially a single plane with the ear projections on adjacent fingers cooperating to peroingly engage the ribbon and the iinger recesses on' adjacent ngers cooperating to form an opening to non-piercingly receive the ribbon 5 rearwardly of the ends of the fingers.

JOSEPH LANDGRAF. 

